“How much does an app cost?” is the first question nearly every business owner asks me, and most are braced for a scary number. The honest answer is that it ranges enormously, and a lot of businesses end up needing far less than they feared. So here’s the plain-English version, with real figures.
What does an app actually cost in Ireland?
As a rough guide for the Irish market:
- A simple web app or first version (MVP), roughly €3,000–€8,000. Does one job well, runs in the browser, no app-store hassle.
- A solid custom app for a small business, roughly €8,000–€20,000. Proper iPhone and Android app, your branding, a few real features and a back end behind it.
- A larger app with integrations and ongoing data, €20,000 and up. Multiple user types, payments, live syncing, connections to other systems.
These are ballpark ranges to set expectations, not a price list. Every project I take on is quoted at a single fixed price agreed before any work starts, no hourly meter, no surprise invoices. The point of the ranges is to help you sanity-check whether what you’re picturing is a €5,000 idea or a €25,000 one before you get too attached.
What drives the cost of an app?
The number is almost entirely about scope. The big levers:
- How many platforms. One platform (or a web app) is cheaper than building for iPhone and Android. Most small-business apps today are built once with a cross-platform approach, which keeps this sensible.
- How many features. Every screen, every button that does something, every rule (“only managers can see this”) adds build time. A focused app is dramatically cheaper than a kitchen-sink one.
- Whether it needs a back end. An app that just shows information is cheap. An app that stores data, has logins, syncs between devices, or feeds a dashboard needs a back end, and that’s where real cost lives.
- Integrations. Hooking into payments, a booking system, accounting software or a delivery provider each adds work.
- Design. A clean, branded app built on a solid design system is efficient. Bespoke animation and custom everything is not.
How to spend far less without regretting it
This is where I save people the most money:
Start with a web app or an MVP
Often the smart first move isn’t the full app at all, it’s a web app that does the one thing you actually need, for a fraction of the cost. Prove people use it, then invest in the bigger version once you know it earns its place.
Build the version that matters, not the wishlist
Owners arrive with twenty features. Usually three of them are the reason the app would make money. Build those three brilliantly, ship it, and add the rest later only if they pull their weight. A phased build spreads the cost and de-risks the whole thing.
Don’t pay for two of everything
Cross-platform tools mean one build runs on both iPhone and Android. Paying separately for two native apps rarely makes sense for a small business.
The costs people forget
The build price isn’t the only number. Budget for:
- App store fees, Apple charges roughly €99 a year for a developer account; Google is a one-off of about €25. (A web app avoids both entirely.)
- Hosting and the back end, usually modest for a small-business app, but not zero.
- Maintenance, phones and operating systems change; an app needs the occasional update to keep working. I’ll always tell you honestly what ongoing care a build will need.
Grant funding for an app in Ireland
The Trading Online Voucher, which used to part-fund this kind of project, closed to new applications in December 2024. Its replacement, the Grow Digital Voucher, covers subscriptions to off-the-shelf software rather than custom builds, so a bespoke app or web app won’t qualify. If an off-the-shelf product would genuinely do the job, it may be worth asking your Local Enterprise Office about it before you commission anything. I work with businesses across Dublin, Cork, Galway and nationwide.
The honest bottom line
Most small Irish businesses don’t need a €30,000 app. They need a focused tool, often a web app, that does one valuable thing well, built for a sensible price, with funding help where it’s available. If you tell me what you’re picturing, I’ll give you a straight answer on whether it’s worth building and roughly what it should cost, even if that answer is “you don’t need this yet.”
Tell me your app idea and I’ll give you the honest version.
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